How to become a political reporter

How to become a Political Reporter

The pathway to working successfully in political journalism combines formal education, practical experience, and skill development.

• Complete postsecondary education: Most political reporters earn an undergraduate degree or diploma in journalism, broadcast journalism, mass communication and media studies, political science, or a related discipline. This helps develop writing, research, and media-production skills that are central to reporting.
• Strengthen writing and communication skills: Clear, concise writing is key to explaining complex political topics. Strong communication also helps in interviewing sources and presenting stories to the public.
• Gain practical experience through internships: Internships with news organizations allow students to apply classroom knowledge in real-world newsroom settings. These experiences teach how to work under deadline pressure and collaborate with editors and producers.
• Build a professional portfolio: A portfolio of published articles, videos, or digital reports showcases a reporter’s ability and style. It also demonstrates to potential employers that the candidate can produce accurate and engaging political content.
• Develop multimedia and technical skills: Professional reporters often use digital cameras, content management systems, and editing software. Familiarity with these tools helps them produce content for television, radio, and online platforms.
• Network and connect with industry professionals: Attending journalism conferences and joining professional associations can open opportunities for mentorship and career advancement. Building relationships in the field is often as valuable as experience itself.
• Stay informed about politics and current events: Successful reporters understand how political systems work and remain aware of policy changes and elections. Keeping up with credible news sources and official updates ensures accurate and relevant reporting.
• Seek professional certification or ongoing training: Various journalism organizations offer certifications that strengthen credibility and professional growth. Continuing education also helps reporters adapt to new technologies and industry standards.
• Graduate level journalism certificates from accredited universities: Many universities and journalism schools offer graduate certificates in areas like journalism practice, media law, and investigative reporting, often alongside or separate from full degrees. These academic certificates support political reporters by providing deeper training in ethics, media law, and advanced reporting methods that are important when covering public institutions.

Certifications
Certifications that support political reporters focus on strong reporting, editing, ethics, and data skills, and many are offered by respected journalism training organizations and associations.

• Poynter Institute Certificates in Journalism: The Poynter Institute has long been recognized as the gold standard for professional development of journalists. It offers training and certification in Broadcast & Visual Journalism, Business & Work, Ethics, Fact-Checking & Media Literacy, Leadership, Reporting & Editing, and Writing.
• Poynter ACES Certificates in Editing: These certificates are awarded through a partnership between the Poynter Institute and American Copy Editors Society (ACES). Communicators at any stage of their professional development can benefit from one or all of three of the editing certificate programs: Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced. There are no prerequisites for any of the certificates; learners can choose any or all of the learning paths to level up their editing skills. Each certificate level is made up of a series of six to seven courses and a final assessment.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE): The IRE provides training, resources, and a community of support to investigative journalists; promotes high professional standards; and protects the rights of investigative journalists. It offers events, fellowships, scholarships, conferences, bootcamps; and workshops covering investigative reporting basics, such as interview strategies, public records research and navigation, and database and document analysis.
• National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR): This is a collaboration between IRE and the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. For more than 30 years, NICAR has made valuable government datasets available to journalists, done custom analysis work for newsrooms large and small, held annual conferences that helped create and continue to support the active NICAR community, trained journalists around the country and overseas in the art of acquiring, cleaning, and analyzing data (e.g., budgets, election data, policy impacts), provided resources for using data effectively and responsibly, and trained Missouri journalism students to handle data and do analysis.
• Google News Initiative Training Certificate: The Google News Initiative provides digital tools and resources that can help journalists find, verify, and tell engaging stories; experiment with new ways to visualize stories using new content formats, data, and more; and explore digital tools that help verify the authenticity and accuracy of online images, videos, and reports.
• Specialized journalism training certificates from institutes and non-profit schools: Organizations such as the Allbritton Journalism Institute provide structured programs and fellowships that include classroom training in ethics, newsgathering, and political reporting skills. Completing these recognized programs can signal a strong commitment to political journalism and provide valuable mentorship and networking in the field.